Changes
by TennantsLittleKitten
Summary: Carisi never ceases to make your eyes roll or your blood boil...


I love Carisi so much and Peter does such a fantastic job portraying him (and he's absolutely gorgeous to boot). It's hard to see Sonny as anything but a total sweetheart...But I wanted to try something a bit different. What if he and a love interest got off on the wrong foot and she was really annoyed by everything he did? How does that dynamic change when they finally start getting to know each other?  
Hope you enjoy! It was a quick idea that popped into my head. I do plan on continuing it for a bit, so any feedback would be loved!

-x-

This is the point in your life where you'd probably hear a record scratch and a voice-over version of yourself would say: "I bet you're wondering how I ended up here?"

Well, you suppose it's not the worst thing in the world but it's not the exact vision you had had for yourself when you moved to New York.

You're a university graduate. You did a Bachelor's and Master's degrees in biology upstate and, after finding your calling as a teacher, you completed a Master's in education to top it all off. The affiliations and contacts you made there led you to NYC when a part-time lecturer position had opened up in Manhattan. It was in your discipline and you only had to teach one course. It was your foot in the door, doing something you truly loved. But, the part-time position also came with some drawbacks. The classes you teach aren't offered in the summer, and with a wage that pays you by the class, summer break essentially meant your income came to a halt. New York wasn't exactly a city to offer affordable living either. This meant money was tight, leaving you with no other choice but to seek out some temp work.

And low and behold, a position at the NYPD's special victim's unit became your new meal ticket. Being a teacher already meant that you had the necessary police background checks completed and you had previously dealt with an issue on campus that vouched for your credibility when it came to confidentiality. You were hired no problem, but the downside was that the job was for a bookkeeper. And bookkeeping was the fancy term the NYPD used for "clean up the paperwork messes we've let accumulate". But a job's a job and it would cover your summer bills.

So here you are: It's your first day as SVU's "bookkeeper" and you had been told to find Sgt. Olivia Benson when you arrived. You walk into the squad room and your ears are overwhelmed by ringing phones and the sounds of chatter. There are detectives whizzing by, going about whatever it is they do. You hug your notebook to your chest as you try to seek out the sergeant among the chaos. You see a brunette head into an office and figure that she's your best bet.

"Hello," you speak meekly, as you stand at the door.

The woman spins around and greets you with a quizzical smile.

"I'm here for the summer bookkeeper position," you continue.

"Oh, yes! Welcome to SVU. Let me introduce you to the squad." Sgt. Benson leads you to the center of the squad room and hollers to get everyone's attention. "Listen up, everyone! This is our newest member of the team. She's here to take care of all the filing messes you've left around here."

You hear a chorus of lighthearted groans and chuckles from the rest of the team as Benson gives you a pat on the back.

Just then a tall, lanky man comes lumbering in towards you and Benson. "Really, Sarge? A temp?" he scoffs.

"Carisi," starts Benson, sounding very much like a mom scolding her son, "You know just as much as everyone else here that we have a backlog of case paperwork that needs serious filing".

He shrugs his shoulders, raising his hands as if to say _whatever, you're in charge!_ before walking away and plunking himself down at a desk.

Benson shows you to your new work station and the mounds of filing that are in disarray. "Don't worry," she reassures you with a warm smile, "it just takes these folks time to warm up to new faces."

But _it's too late_ you think as she walks past that Carisi guy. His arrogance has immediately put you off. Him and his smug attitude. You get the same kind of defiance from your teenage students, for crying out loud!

The days go by, albeit slowly, as you trudge through paperwork. You've familiarized yourself with their previous filing system and are trying to sort and stack to match it. It's tedious work but overall, not the worst possible job. The one thing that does annoy you though is Carisi. You watch him around the office from time to time. He's got a loud, boisterous voice that always lets everyone know when he's around. He's got that brow of his that always seems to be knitted in disgust. Even the way he saunters around like he's some tough guy makes you feel sick. And he always stands there with his hand on his hip like he's someone important. Not to mention how brash he is with everyone he talks to and how he's always trying to show off his legal knowledge to anyone who'll listen…and even to those who won't.

On top of his general demeanor, he has not exactly been friendly with you either. He clearly hasn't given you the benefit of the doubt and he definitely doesn't consider you a squad member. In all fairness, you're not _really_ a part of their detective team, but you still see these people everyday. _Most_ of them make an effort to be nice to you. You can even sometimes overhear him let out these little quips about the paperwork or he'll refer to you like you're not even there. Carisi never ceases to make your eyes roll or your blood boil.

About a month into the job, you decide you need to work late. There's at least a year's worth of backlog and you really want to get the ball rolling with the organization. on top of that though, today you came across a really big mess. Folders that have cases mixed up and they desperately need proper sorting. So, overtime it is!

Everyone had already left and it's just you in your messy bun, shuffling through countless papers and files. Well, you _thought_ you were the only one left…

But of course, in comes Carisi with that stomach-churning saunter and that grumpy face of his. You let out an annoyed sigh. _How was he going to try and insult you now?_

"You're still here, newbie?" he chirps when he sees you.

"Backlog of paperwork, remember?" you quip back with just the right amount of sass.

"Ah, yes, how could I forget? Very important job and all…" His words absolutely dripped with sarcasm but you were adamant you wouldn't let him get to you. So, you just roll your eyes and turn back to your work.

When he notices your lack of rebuttal, he adds, "Clockin' some oh-tee, myself. Mighta missed a lead in somma these files from our latest case." He rolls up his sleeves as he speaks, exposing his forearms.

You, too, notice how warm the squad room is. _Damn summer heat._

"That's nice." You fake a smile, watching him from the corner of your eye.

He plops down at his desk a row across from your work-space, stretching himself out as his long, lanky legs crowd out his desk space. Carisi looks down as if he's about to delve into his work, but then looks back up and over to you. You feel his blue eyes boring into you from a distance. "Why the hell you take this stupid job anyway? I assume the pay is total crap."

Your head snaps up to glare at him. What a _bold_ statement. He knows nothing about you yet he has the audacity to assume that this job is worthless? He probably thinks you're just some desperate girl who needs to take whatever job she can get. Nothing to her name; nothing of worth.

"For your _information_," you punctuate the words, "the college courses I teach aren't offered in the summer." You wanted your words to be a knife and to twist them in order to wipe the smug look off his face.

"Yourra teacher?" he says, taken aback.

You've got him! Not so smug now! "Yes, biological science at one of the colleges here in Manhattan."

Carisi looks genuinely shocked. His eyebrows are raised and he's just staring at you. You've finally rendered the mouthy detective speechless. You would do a victory dance, but you wouldn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing you enjoyed it that much.

"Wow," he states with a small smile, "that's really awesome."

A compliment. _Wow_ indeed. But then you notice something. His normally knitted, grumpy eyebrows that you detest so much are actually softened and expressive. In fact, his whole demeanor has suddenly changed. He looks…_kind_.

"What?" You finally break the silence, still trying to put up the hardened front.

"Nothin'. Jus' never knew that 'bout you. Why haven't you said anything?" he questions.

"You never asked," you say simply. And before you can stop yourself, you add: "I'm just the temp, _remember_?" You immediately regret saying it. It was a dirty dig, especially when Carisi was actually trying to be nice.

"Yeah," he says, scratching the back of his neck, "Sorry 'bout that..."

His apology hangs heavily in the air for a few long moments before you decide to quietly utter: "It's alright."

You both silently return to your work for another few hours. Finally, however, you can't see straight anymore. Your eyes hurt and your headache is growing worse. Your glasses had slipped so far down your nose that someone may mistake you for a little old granny. Your hair is sticking out in all directions, seemingly trying to escape its bun-prison. It's most definitely time for you to head home.

You look up to see Carisi totally overcome with fatigue as well. He has bags under his eyes from a hard day. You know his job isn't easy and that he actually does take it very seriously.

You stand up and close the open file in front of you. Your movements release Carisi from his work-induced trance. "Headin' out?" he asks.

"Yeah," you reply. "Can't take anymore of this tonight."

"I should call it a night too," he says, standing up and straightening his dress shirt. "Uh, lemme walk you home. It's real late and there's creeps hanging around at this hour."

You catch his eye. He looks genuinely apologetic. 'You' from a couple of weeks ago would have said _no way in hell_. Heck, 'You' from a couple of _hours_ ago would have shut him down instantly. But something makes you say yes. For some reason your gut is telling you to give him a chance – that maybe you had judged him a little too quickly as well. "Sure," you nod. "Thanks, detective."

He flashes you a half smile. "Please, call me Sonny."

-x-

Unfortunately, society does a lot of labeling and judging based on very little information. Doesn't matter what job you have or what you look like. If you take the chance to get to know someone, you may be pleasantly surprised :)


End file.
